NORTH CAROLINA A&T ADVANCES INTO CHAMPIONSHIP WITH WIN Sahar Abdur-Rashid 05/16/09 Daytona Beach, Fla., (May 16, 2009)- North Carolina A&T State defeated Florida A&M 10-3 in an elimination game of the 2009 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Baseball Tournament Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. North Carolina A&T freshman Xavier Macklin led the Aggies to victory over the Rattlers with a 3-for-5 performance that included two RBI and two runs scored. C.J. Beatty added three RBI for North Carolina A&T, who improved to 21-33 on the season. FAMU (24-29) tallied nine hits with Jared Jeffries, Chris Fullman and Adam Gordon finishing with two hits each. Chris Watson (4-5) picked up the win for the Aggies, allowing nine hits, three earned runs and striking out three in nine innings of work, while Tim Schalch (4-3) took the loss of the Rattlers, giving up 13 hits, eight earned runs and striking out two in six innings of work. A Jeffries single to second, scored Darryl Evans, giving FAMU a 1-0 lead, in the top of the first. The Aggies would tie the game in the bottom of the second 1-all on a Cyril Daniel homer. North Carolina A&T took the lead in their half the third as C.J. Beatty doubled to left field scoring both Macklin and George Hines. Beatty would then score on a Nick Rogers single, followed by a Jaron Neal single up the middle scoring Rogers, giving the Aggies a 5-1 lead. The Aggies added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth as Daniel scored on a Lester Rivenbark double to left field. A Ronald Perry sacrifice fly to right field would then score Marquis Riley. A pair of back-to-back singles allowed both Rivenbark and Macklin to cross the plate, for a 9-1 lead over the Rattlers. FAMU would plate a run in the top of the seventh and a run in the top of the eighth on a Gabriel Rodriquez ground out scoring Fullman. A Tobi Adeyemi single allowed Jeffries to score and cut North Carolina A&T‘s lead 9-3. The Aggies would score one more run in the bottom of the eighth for the 10-3 final. North Carolina A&T advances to the their third MEAC baseball championship final in five years and will have to win two games tomorrow against Bethune-Cookman to be crown the 2009 MEAC Baseball Champions. The championship game is set for 2 p.m. Admission for the 2009 MEAC Baseball Championship is $8 for adults and $4 for children ages four and older, students and senior citizens. Children ages three (3) and under are admitted free. Tickets are available at the Jackie Robinson Ballpark, 105 E Orange Ave, Daytona Beach, Florida.